A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to dissolve and repeal the charter of golden leaf, inc., and to direct unencumbered assets and funds of golden leaf, inc., to the tobacco dependent community trust fund.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  Pursuant to Section 3 of S.L. 1999‑2 and Section 1 of Article VIII of the North Carolina Constitution, the General Assembly hereby dissolves and repeals the charter of the nonprofit corporation, The Golden L.E.A.F. (Long‑Term Economic Advancement Foundation), Inc., created pursuant to S.L. 1999‑2 and the Consent Decree and Final Judgment entered on December 21, 1998, in the action of State of North Carolina v. Philip Morris Incorporated, et al., 98 CVS 14377.  Pursuant to G.S. 143‑16.4 and Section 3(5) of S.L. 1999‑2, all unencumbered assets and funds of the nonprofit corporation, including the right to receive future funds pursuant to Section 2 of S.L. 1999‑2, are transferred to the Settlement Reserve Fund.
SECTION 1.(b)  The Attorney General shall take all necessary actions to notify the court in the action entitled State of North Carolina v. Philip Morris Incorporated, et al., 98 CVS 14377, in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County, North Carolina, and the administrators of the State Specific Account established under the Master Settlement Agreement, of this action by the General Assembly redirecting these payments.
SECTION 2.  Section 6 of S.L. 1999‑2 reads as rewritten:
"Section 6.  It is the intent of the General Assembly that the funds under the Master Settlement Agreement, which is incorporated into the Consent Decree, be allocated as follows:(1)	Fifty percent (50%) to  a trust fund to be established by the General Assembly for the benefit of tobacco dependent communities to be governed by a board of trustees representing these interests.
(2)	Twenty‑five percent (25%) to a trust fund to be established by the General Assembly for the benefit of tobacco producers, tobacco allotment holders, and persons engaged in tobacco‑related businesses, with this trust fund to be governed by a board of trustees representing these interests. To carry out this purpose, this trust fund may provide direct and indirect financial assistance, in accordance with criteria established by the trustees of the trust fund and to the extent allowed by law, to (i) indemnify tobacco producers, allotment holders, and persons engaged in tobacco‑related businesses from the adverse economic effects of the Master Settlement Agreement, (ii) compensate tobacco producers and allotment holders for the economic loss resulting from lost quota, and (iii) revitalize tobacco dependent communities. 
(3)	Twenty‑five percent (25%) to a trust fund to be established by the General Assembly for the benefit of health, with this trust fund to be governed by a board of trustees comprised of a broad representation of health interests. to the Settlement Reserve Fund established pursuant to G.S. 143‑16.4 to be used for General Fund expenditures."
SECTION 3.   G.S. 143‑16.4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143‑16.4.  Settlement Reserve Fund.
(a)	The "Settlement Reserve Fund" is established as a restricted reserve in the General Fund. Except as otherwise provided in this section, funds shall be expended from the Settlement Reserve Fund only by specific appropriation by the General Assembly. 
(a1)	A Health Trust Account is established in the Settlement Reserve Fund. The portion of each Master Settlement Agreement payment identified in Section 6(3) of S.L. 1999‑2 shall be credited to the Health Trust Account. The State Controller shall transfer all funds in the Health Trust Account to the Health and Wellness Trust Fund created in Article 6C of Chapter 147 of the General Statutes.
(a2)	A Tobacco Trust Account is established in the Settlement Reserve Fund. The portion of each Master Settlement Agreement payment identified in Section 6(2) of S.L. 1999‑2 shall be credited to the Tobacco Trust Account. The State Controller shall transfer all funds in the Tobacco Trust Account to the Tobacco Trust Fund created in Article 75 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(a3)	A Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Account is established in the Settlement Reserve Fund. The unencumbered assets and funds transferred pursuant to the dissolution and repeal of The Golden L.E.A.F. (Long‑Term Economic Advancement Foundation), Inc., and the portion of each Master Settlement Agreement payment identified in Section 6(1) of S.L. 1999‑2 shall be credited to the Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Account. The State Controller shall transfer all funds in the Tobacco Community Dependent Trust Account to the Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Fund created in Article 79 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(b)	Unless prohibited by federal law, federal funds provided to the State by block grant or otherwise as part of federal legislation implementing a settlement between United States tobacco companies and the states shall be credited to the Settlement Reserve Fund. Unless otherwise encumbered or distributed under a settlement agreement or final order or judgment of the court, funds paid to the State or a State agency pursuant to a tobacco litigation settlement agreement, or a final order or judgment of a court in litigation between tobacco companies and the states, shall be credited to the Settlement Reserve Fund."
SECTION 4.  Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 79.
"Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Fund.
"§ 143‑740.  Policy; purpose.
The General Assembly finds that in order to promote the social welfare and lessen the burden of government, the State should receive and distribute funds from the Master Settlement Agreement to provide impact assistance to economically affected or tobacco‑dependent regions of the State, including education assistance, job training and employment assistance, scientific research, economic hardship assistance, public works and industrial recruitment, health and human services, and community assistance.
"§ 143‑741.  Definitions.
The following definitions apply in this Article:
(1)	Commission. – The Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Fund Commission.
(2)	Fund. – The Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Fund.
(3)	Master Settlement Agreement. – The settlement agreement between certain tobacco manufacturers and the states, as incorporated in the consent decree entered in the action of State of North Carolina v. Philip Morris, Incorporated, et al., 98 CVS 14377, in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County, North Carolina.
"§ 143‑742.  Commission.
(a)	Creation. – The Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Fund Commission is created. All administrative expenses of the Commission shall be paid from the Fund.
(b)	Membership. – The Commission shall consist of the board of directors of the Rural Economic Development Center, Inc.
(c)	Officers. – The Commission shall elect from its membership a chair, vice‑chair, and other officers as necessary for two‑year terms beginning July 1 at the first meeting of the Commission held on or after July 1 of every even‑numbered year. The vice‑chair may act for the chair in the absence of the chair as authorized by the Commission.
(d)	Frequency of Meetings. – The Commission shall meet at least quarterly each year and may hold special meetings at the call of the chair or of a majority of members. The Governor shall call the initial meeting of the Commission.
(e)	Quorum; Majority. – A quorum of the board of directors of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Inc., shall constitute a quorum of the Commission. The Commission may act upon a majority vote of the members of the Commission on matters involving the disbursement of funds and personnel matters properly before the Commission. On all other matters, the Commission may act by majority vote of the members of the Commission at a meeting at which a quorum is present.
(f)	Per Diem and Expenses. – The members of the Commission shall receive per diem and necessary travel and subsistence expenses in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 138‑5. Per diem, subsistence, and travel expenses of the members shall be paid from the Fund.
(g)	Limit on Operating and Administrative Expenses. – No more than two and one‑half percent (2 ½%) of the annual receipts of the Fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1 or a total sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000), whichever is less, may be used each fiscal year for administrative and operating expenses of the Commission and its staff. All administrative expenses of the Commission shall be paid from the Fund.
§ 143‑743.  Powers and duties.
The Commission shall have the following powers and duties to do all of the following:
(1)	Educational assistance. – Provide funds for educational programs for tobacco farmers and other workers impacted or projected to be impacted by a decline in demand for, or production of, tobacco or tobacco products.
(2)	Job training and employment assistance. – Provide loans and grants, to be used for job training and other employment-related programs, to organizations assisting tobacco farmers and other workers dependent on tobacco farming, production, and sales to transition to other sources of income.
(3)	Scientific research. – Provide funds for scientific research to develop new uses for tobacco or for the development of alternative cash crops.
(4)	Economic hardship assistance. – Provide direct grants, loans, and other assistance programs to alleviate economic hardship, poverty, or need experienced by tobacco farmers, quota owners, their families, and others as a result of decline in quota or production of tobacco or tobacco products.
(5)	Public works and industrial recruitment. – Provide grants and loans to local governments for upgrading utilities, transportation, and other public service infrastructure to attract new businesses or for more general economic development purposes.
(6)	Health and human services. – Provide funds for improved health care and other social services needed to maintain the stability of tobacco‑dependent communities.
(8)	Community assistance. – Provide direct grants and loans to economically depressed and deteriorating tobacco‑dependent communities, to be used exclusively for public purposes.
(9)	Make provisions for an efficient mechanism to monitor the activities of those persons receiving grants, loans, or other assistance from the Fund, to assure that the funds are in fact being used for the purposes intended by the Fund.
(10)	Hire staff for the administration of the Fund.
(11)	Contract with other persons to assist in the administration of the Commission's programs, including the Rural Economic Development Center, Inc.
(12)	Accept gifts or grants from other sources.
(13)	Adopt rules to implement this Article.
(14)	Serve as trustee of the Fund and administer the Fund in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
"§ 143‑744.  Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Fund; creation; investment; priority use.
(a)	Fund Established. – The Tobacco Dependent Community Trust Fund is established in the Office of the State Treasurer. The Fund shall be used for the purposes provided in this Article.
(b)	Fund Earnings, Assets, and Balances. – The State Treasurer shall hold the Fund separate and apart from all other moneys, funds, and accounts. The State Treasurer is the custodian of the Fund and shall invest the assets in accordance with G.S. 147‑69.2 and G.S. 147‑69.3. Investment earnings credited to the Fund become part of the Fund. Any balance remaining in the Fund at the end of any fiscal year is carried forward in the Fund for the next succeeding fiscal year. Payments from the Fund shall be made on the warrant of the chair of the Commission, pursuant to the directives of the Commission.
"§ 143‑745.  Reporting.
(a)	The chair of the Commission shall report each year by November 1 to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations and the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees regarding the implementation of this Article, including a report on funds disbursed during the fiscal year by amount, purpose, and category of recipient, and other information as requested by the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations. A written copy of the report shall also be sent to the Legislative Library by November 1 each year.
(b)	Any non‑State entity, as that term is defined in G.S. 143C‑1‑1, that receives, uses, or expends any funds from the Commission is subject to the applicable reporting requirements of G.S. 143C‑6‑23.
"§ 143‑746.  Open meetings; public records; audit.
The Open Meetings Law (Article 33 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes) and the Public Records Act (Chapter 132 of the General Statutes) shall apply to the Fund and the Commission, and the Fund and the Commission shall be subject to audit by the State Auditor as provided by law. The Commission shall reimburse the State Auditor for the actual cost of the audit.
"§§ 143‑747 through 143‑749: Reserved for future codification purposes.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.